The Motor Boys on the Pacific eBook

“The wind is dying down,” announced Ned
in a low voice. Somehow it seemed as if they
ought to talk in whispers.

“Yes, I think it will stop when the sun comes
up,” said Mr. De Vere. “It looks
as if it would be clear.”

In the east there appeared a rosy light. A golden
beam shot up to the sky, tinting the crests of the
waves. Then the rim of Old Sol appeared, to cheer
the voyagers.

“Look there!” suddenly called Jerry, pointing
straight at the disk of the sun, which, every second,
was becoming larger.

They all looked and saw, laboring in the waves, about
a mile away, a powerful tug, that seemed to be following
them.

CHAPTER XXVI

Rivalsearchers

“What boat is that?” asked Ned.

“Hand me the glasses,” requested Mr. De
Vere, as he went nearer to the cabin port. He
peered through the binoculars for some time, then
announced:

“It’s the steam tug, Monarch, from San
Pedro. I wonder what it can be doing out this
way?”

“Perhaps it was blown out of its course by the
storm,” suggested Jerry. “I’m
sure we must have been.”

“Very likely,” admitted Mr. De Vere.
“Still that is a very powerful boat, and the
captain must have some reason to be keeping after us
the way he is doing.”

“Do you think they are following us?”
asked Ned.

“It certainly looks so. We’re headed
straight out to sea now,” he added, after a
glance at the compass. “If the tug was out
of it’s course it would be turned about and
going the other way. Instead it is coming right
after us.”

This was very evident, for, as the Ripper was laboring
through the waves, the other vessel kept in her wake,
and seemed to be overhauling the motor boat.

“Well, it’s a free country; I suppose
they have a right to be here,” spoke Jerry.

“Yes,” said Mr. De Vere, watching the
tug through the glasses, “but I don’t
like their actions.”

“Why not? Do you think—­”
began Jerry.

“I don’t like to say what I think,”
was the answer. “We will have to wait and
see what develops. But I propose that we have
some breakfast, or, at least, some hot coffee, if
Bob can manage to stand in the galley. It has
been a hard night for us.”

Bob soon demonstrated that he could get up a breakfast
under rather adverse circumstances, and the derelict
hunters were soon drinking hot coffee, though they
had to hold the partly-filled cups in one hand, and
maintain their balance by clinging with the other to
some part of the cabin.

The day was clear, and, save for the high waves, there
were no evidences of the storm. The big sea,
however, was not likely to subside soon, and the Ripper
had to stagger along as best she could, which task
she performed to the great satisfaction of the voyagers.

Maurice De Vere seemed much worried by the appearance
of the tug, which hung on the wake of the Ripper,
maintaining a speed that kept it about a mile to the
rear. The owner of the Rockhaven kept the glasses
almost continually on the steam vessel, and the anxious
look did not leave his face.